Memorial by Bryan Washington

 Friday, Nov. 6, 2020--San Antonio

Memorial by Bryan Washington is the second book by this author that I have read recently.  The first was Lot, a collection of short stores.  Mr. Washington is a Houston author who is receiving lots of acclaim.  Before Memorial was released in the past few weeks, I read articles in TIME and EW about it and heard a report on NPR about it.  I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up on the short list for the next National Book Award.  The book is well written in a unique style that is very conversational and often consists of short entries (of only a few lines each) that slowly build the story.  It revolves around two young minority men (Benton who is Black and Mike who is a Japanese immigrant) who are gay, live in Houston, and establish a relationship which appears to be unstable for long-term success.  But the main story taking up most of the book starts about 3 years into that relationship when Mike's mother is coming from Japan to Houston for a visit at the same time that he finds out that his father (estranged from his mother) is dying in Japan.  Mike leaves for Japan to make a last-ditch effort to establish a relationship with his father (whom he hasn't seen since he was 9 years old) before his mother, who Benton has never met arrives at the home where the two men live.  Relationships are strained on both sides of the world with Benton and Mike's mother slowly, and with great difficulty, getting to know and appreciate each other and with Mike and his father slowly, but with great difficulty, reestablishing a relationship which over time each has had mostly negative feelings about and learning to appreciate each other.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book and gave it 4 stars out of 5.